Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock Rating Lowered by ValuEngine

ValuEngine downgraded shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday, February 2nd.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BidaskClub cut Green Plains from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Piper Jaffray Companies raised Green Plains from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Green Plains from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $25.00 price objective on Green Plains and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $26.67.

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Green Plains (GPRE) opened at $17.75 on Friday. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $15.60 and a twelve month high of $26.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $730.63, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.55.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.01. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 1.70%. The company had revenue of $920.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Green Plains’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. equities analysts forecast that Green Plains will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 22nd. Green Plains’s dividend payout ratio is 39.02%.

In related news, EVP Walter S. Cronin sold 6,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.80, for a total transaction of $113,181.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Wayne Hoovestol bought 102,653 shares of Green Plains stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.37 per share, for a total transaction of $1,680,429.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 218,277 shares in the company, valued at $3,573,194.49. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 127,136 shares of company stock valued at $2,087,178 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Green Plains by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 28.6% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 10,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains in the third quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Suntrust Banks Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 2.3% in the second quarter. Suntrust Banks Inc. now owns 16,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period.

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Green Plains Company Profile

Green Plains Inc is an ethanol producer. The Company owns and operates assets throughout the ethanol value chain, including upstream, with grain handling and storage through its ethanol production facilities, and downstream, with marketing and distribution services. It operates through four segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, Food and Food Ingredients, and Partnership.